2007 MLS Week 15 Recap or Toja strikes at the heart of DC

The MLS season is now halfway over and the week that brought us to this point also brought us some history as Steve Ralston (NE Revolution) became the all-time assist leader in MLS with 115 while Houston smashed the consecutive shutout minutes against Toronto. In the East, the seesaw action continued as New England and KC are up while New York and Columbus are down. That said, the point spread between first and fifth increased to four, so some room has appeared. In the West, things stayed the same, however Chivas has positioned themselves just right to give the sides from Texas some headaches during the second half of the season.

The number of goals was up this week while ties were down, however 2 of the 6 games still ended even. In Inter-conference play, the West picked up a game on the East.

Anyway, here is the league by numbers 103 games into the season:

	Season	Week 15
Attendance	1,550,833	87,899
Att per game	15,057	14,650
Goals	268	15
Goals per game	2.602	2.5
Inter-conference	East 18-15-14	West 2-1-2
Visitors	27-49-27	2-2-2
Ties	27 (26.2%)	2 (33.3%)

FC Dallas 3-3 DC United
I never would have guess FCD had such a come back in them. United raced out to a big 3-0 lead but became bored with the game, thus the hoops made something happen. Dallas started winning the 50-50 balls while Juan Toja and Carlos Ruiz came to life on the attack. In 30-minutes, FCD turned this game on its head, yet United still had some chances to take the full three points. This will be one that fans of both clubs remember for some time to come.
Goals: DC: Luxiano Emilio (9) 8', (10) 47', Fred (2) 45'
FCD: Carlos Ruiz (3) 51', Juan Toja (5) 71', (6) 81'

New England Revolution 1-0 New York Red Bulls
With a little help from the crossbars, New England walked away from New York with a full three points and the lead in the East. The Bulls came out strong with Clint Mathis and Juan Pablo Angel making some impressive efforts, but getting nothing. Then came history as Steve Ralston put a pass over to Shalrie Joseph who gave Andy Dorman a perfect diagonal pass to get the lone goal. As this game went on, New York grew frustrated as their play suffered. Could this game be a smaller version of the Red Bulls season as a whole?
Goal: Andy Dorman (7) 38'

Real Salt Lake 0-1 Kansas City Wizards
KC should be happy with the win but it should not have been so close. Real barely threaten during the whole match as huge portions of it took place in the Real held, yet KC could only manage a single goal. This almost cost them late as Jose Burciaga headed a weak ball back to keeper Kevin Hartman that was almost intercepted by the on rushing Real. Had Hartman been a spilt second slower, Salt Lake would have got a point from this match.
Goal: KC: Eddie Johnson (10) 19'

Columbus Crew 1-2 Chivas USA
Oh the Crew, they played Chivas like few others have in LA, but it was a simple mistake that cost them. An own goal by Eddie Gaven was the difference in this one. Both teams had some good play through out the match. Chivas still takes forever to make something happen, but they get another win to keep them on the tail of the teams from Texas in the West.
Goals: CV: Ante Razov (5) 19', Eddie Gaven (own goal) 69'
CC: Stefani Miglioranzi (2) 23'

Toronto FC 0-0 Houston Dynamo
TFC have got to be happy with this result as they played down a man for the whole second half. This was a physical match as seen by the blood pouring from Brian Mullan after a collision with Maurice Edu in the air. Houston had some good chances, but their shots were horribly off target. Meanwhile, Toronto only saw some light near goal a couple times but they made Houston work to earn their record shutout streak. The Dynamo might be okay with this one because it was their fifth match in 11 days, but in the end, they should have still got the full points.